Kids dress as favorite characters in candy quest

Published: October 30, 2009 4:03AM

By JEFF RUSST-G Staff WriterJack-o-laterns, with their crooked grins smiled at cats, Buzz Lightyear, baseball players and superheros on a chilly Thursday night all across Ashland County as one of fall’s greatest traditions, trick-or-treating, took place. In Ashland, trick-or-treat began at 6 p.m., and even before then, children with goody bags started trekking their neighborhoods. Morgan Workman, 4, was Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz,” while her mom, Leslie, was the Wicked Witch, all the way down the striped stocks. Morgan was excited about her ruby slippers and said “The Wizard of Oz” is her favorite movie. Her favorite candy is M&M’s, and she already had a few packets of her favorite candy after just a few houses. The Scarecrow, Tin Man or Cowardly Lion were nowhere to be found. Brooke Griffith went around Ashland dressed as a black cat, with drawn-on whiskers and cat ears. “Trick-or-treat is fun. I get a lot of candy,” she said. Although she hadn’t started yet, Griffith said her favorite candy is Skittles, and she hoped to get a lot of them in her basket. Emma Dahinden was dressed as Tinkerbell and said she liked wearing the wings. Emma said her favorite candy was simply gum.One house that stood out was on Center Lane Drive in Ashland. The house had a Halloween-themed orange tractor in the driveway. The tractor is owned by Rex Crumlick, who said he bought the 1935 Model UC tractor 44 years ago for $75. After 20 years and a tractor pull win at the Ashland County Fair, the tractor broke down at a tractor pull. Crumlick said he decided to restore the tractor recently. It was a hit with the kids who got three pieces of candy at his house, and climbed up on the seat as smiling parents took their picture. “I thought I’d put it out here since it’s the right color,” Crumlick said. Some of the most popular costumes seen around Ashland included princesses, ninjas and Buzz Lightyear from the “Toy Story” movies. But trick-or-treating wasn’t just limited to Ashland on Thursday, as Jeromesville, Hayesville, Mifflin, Savannah, Polk and Bailey Lakes all celebrated a night of candy and costumes. If the young ones already have finished this round of candy, there is still more available Saturday in Loudonville, Perrysville and Nova — because what is better than free candy and costumes?n Jeff Russ can be reached at 419-281-0581, ext. 237, or jruss@times-gazette.com.